polaris goes to mexico

[dragonflats]

wcco 4 news in Minneapolis, MN

Polaris is moving some parts of its WI manufacturing plant to Mexico.

not bashing, I know lots of parts are made outside of the U.S. sounds like welding and painting is going to Mexico, of what parts I didn't hear.

 

[MNIQR]

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_15128959?source=rss

It will be interesting to see if quality goes up, down or stays the same.
Alot of people are very USA only when buying. And alot have bought polaris for no other reason than they had the most American made or assembled parts in them. I wonder how this will effect those peoples decision to buy in the future.

 

[MNIQR]

News Release
Polaris Industries Media Contact: Marlys Knutson
2100 Highway 55 Phone: 763/542-0533
Medina, MN 55340-9770 marlys.knutson@polarisind.com
Investor Contact: Richard Edwards
Phone: 763/513-3477
richard.edwards@polarisind.com

POLARIS TO REALIGN MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS

Realignment expected to improve long-term competitive positioning resulting from logistical and
production cost savings while expediting delivery times

MINNEAPOLIS (May 20, 2010) – In an effort to improve its long-term competitive positioning, increase
operational efficiencies and position the company for future growth, Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today
announced plans to realign its operations and refocus on its core strategic manufacturing processes. The
Company will create manufacturing centers of excellence for Polaris Products by enhancing the existing
Roseau, Minn. and Spirit Lake, Iowa, production facilities and establishing a new facility in Mexico.
The Company is currently evaluating several possible locations in the Monterrey/Saltillo area of
Mexico for the new facility. The realignment will lead to the eventual sale or closure of Polaris’ Osceola,
Wisconsin manufacturing operations over time. The realignment allows the Company to dedicate capital for
strategic investments in painting, welding and assembly operations by outsourcing certain non-strategic
component manufacturing processes. The Mexico facility is expected to maintain Polaris’ industry leading
quality while improving the Company’s on-time delivery to customers and provide significant savings in
logistical and production costs.

“While this was a difficult decision for us, given the impact on our employees at the Osceola
facility, we believe the creation of these manufacturing centers of excellence will strengthen our company
over the long-term and enable us to maintain our lead in a competitive market,” said Scott Wine, CEO,
Polaris Industries Inc. “Pursuing opportunities in new markets outside the United States, while concurrently
evaluating our cost structure to improve our long-term competitive positioning are key components to our
growth strategy. This decision was based on a thorough review of our worldwide operations and will allow us
to improve our ability to meet the quality, delivery and cost standards desired by our dealers and customers.”

-more

The realignment of Polaris’ manufacturing footprint will strengthen the Company’s position in
the powersports industry, as it will enable Polaris to have production facilities closer to customers in the
southern United States and global markets the Company currently serves or expects to serve in the future.
When the manufacturing realignment is completed the Company will have capabilities to manufacture ORVs
(both ATVs and side-by-side vehicles), which represents more than two-thirds of the Company’s sales, in
multiple locations depending on customer demand.

Snowmobile assembly will remain in the Roseau facility and Victory motorcycle assembly will
remain in the Company’s Spirit Lake facility. As part of the manufacturing realignment, certain Osceola
manufacturing processes will be moved into the Roseau, Spirit Lake and Mexico facilities to more effectively
utilize Company resources. In addition, certain manufacturing processes and equipment are intended to be
sold to suppliers whom will continue to supply components to Polaris. Other non-strategic component
manufacturing operations currently performed in the Osceola facility will be outsourced. The realignment
will begin immediately and is scheduled to be complete in 2012. The Company will look to have the new
production facility in Mexico operational beginning in the first half of 2011.

Polaris is currently in negotiations with several suppliers to sell certain non-strategic component
manufacturing processes and equipment in the Osceola facility. If successful, Polaris’ intent is that the
suppliers will continue to manufacture these components in the current Osceola location. Polaris will operate
the Osceola manufacturing facilities during the transition period. Upon completion of the transition, Polaris
will provide the affected employees severance benefits and work closely with the Wisconsin Department of
Labor and other state and local agencies to offer employment assistance and other services.

The Company expects to record pretax transition charges to its income statement in the range of
$20 million to $25 million and incur capital expenditures up to $35 million over the next few years related to
the implementation of the manufacturing realignment. The Company expects the Osceola facility exit costs,
comprising largely of one-time employee termination benefits, to amount to approximately a third of the total
transition charges, while the start-up costs related to the new Mexico facility and other centers of excellence
will comprise the balance. Transition charges to be incurred in calendar year 2010 are expected to be in the
range of $8 to $10 million. The Company’s current earnings guidance of earnings per share of $3.48 to $3.60
for the full year 2010 will not change as a result of this announcement. The realignment is expected to
generate pre-tax costs and expense savings in excess of $30 million on an annual basis when the transition has
been completed. The Company expects to begin realizing some of the cost savings as early as 2011.

-more

Conference Call and Webcast

On Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10:00 AM (CT) Polaris Industries Inc. will host a conference call and
webcast to discuss Polaris’ manufacturing realignment. The call will be hosted by Scott Wine, CEO. A link to
the audio webcast will be posted on the Investor Relations page of the Polaris web site at
www.polarisindustries.com/irhome. To listen to the conference call by phone, dial 800-374-6475 in the U.S. and
Canada, or 973-200-3967 Internationally. The Conference ID is #75828289.

A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call for a oneweek
period by accessing the same link on our website, or by dialing 800-642-1687 in the U.S. and Canada,
or 706-645-9291 Internationally.

About Polaris

With annual 2009 sales of $1.6 billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets off-road
vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER™, snowmobiles and
Victory motorcycles for recreational and utility use and has recently introduced a new on-road electric
powered neighborhood vehicle.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and one of the largest manufacturers of
ORVs in the world. Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new Americanmade
motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the
cruiser and touring motorcycle marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line
of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.

Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII,” and the
Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index.

Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories are available
from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.

 

[Vegas Maxx]

No mas Polaris

Here's the botton line: Polaris only has to pay it's Mexican workforce 1/3 what it pays now.

http://www.startribune.com/business...DUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUvDEhiaE3miUsZ

I've always prefered Polaris ATVs but this will definitely affect future buying decisions.
Quality always goes down the tubes when companies opt for the cheap unskilled labor.
It's also time to support American workers by buying American products before we lose what little industry we have left.

 

[VTMTcowboy]

It's bogus fellas!! All so the "Big Execs" can make more money and put hard working Americans out of work. Typical US company. I am from Vermont and this past summer Burton Snowboards anounced its closing of their production factory in Burlington (where it all started) to move it to Switzerland to save money. I wonder if they forgot about the workers that they left behind? It is especially a big deal when the towns/States they are located in are small, like Vermont, and do not have the jobs available as do cities and larger populated States. It's really just sad in the end.

 

[mountainhorse]

I know first hand the pains that any move like this can cause...and I understand the turmoil that is caused to the families that are involved in transitions like this.

We no longer live in a time where you can count on a "job for life" from the same company...It hasn't been this way for a while in our country.

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and have spent the last 2 months there taking care of family.... I know first hand the impacts of these changes from line-workers to engineers. My brother in law, an top engineer for Chrysler has been out of work for 2 years, picking up jobs and staying productive where he can for his family in during the search... much of that because of the foreign companies, investment strategies and VC aspirations of investors that treat mfg as a "commodity" to be shuffled around.

I have also experienced in my family the changes that have made essentially extinct the textile industry in the USA. If you were to boycott all clothing that was made with foreign fabric, you would be naked.

Right now, I am typing this from a hotel room in Roseau, MN after spending yesterday at the Polaris plant and talking to the people working there. This is a small town of hard workers that build a snowmobile that they are very proud of.

The first line of hire for all jobs moved to Roseau are Polaris workers from Osceola... Yes that involves a relocation, which is no small move... but the same is happening in our country in all industries and job markets from a construction worker to a research scientists.

One of many items...The clutch production has been moved to Roseau.... I watched American workers assembling the clutches and balancing... racks and racks of them...In the Roseau, MN plant.

Polaris has made a huge re-investment in the snow division here in Roseau with the creation and expansion of new jobs there.

Buy things where they CAN keep jobs in this country... the Polaris sleds ARE that.


If you decide not to buy a Polaris because it is not the design that you want or it does not perform to your expectations... that is one thing... but if you are generally boycotting the Polaris snowmobiles because some of their NON-snowmobile products are built on foreign soil... then you may just be putting other hard working USA employees out of work.

There is a more detailed reply to this topic in this post. Which covers more of the root issues in this topic. http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217845



In the end, Polaris SNOWMOBILES and their two stroke engines are still manufactured in the USA.

 

[starfire99]

Yep, Tiller takes home $54M for himself, leaves the snomo division in a mess, clothing comes from china...half the quality of the old polaris clothing, the engineering department goes through two cleanouts, we still don't know if the 800s will hold together......lets move to a 'center of excellance in Mexico?? Who are you corporate geekaroids kidding?? So they can build Toyotas and BMW's in the US but not Polaris's?? If Polaris moves to Mexico, I would strongly encourage Yamaha to move to Rouseau, put the local workforce to work, and the management of Polaris and Cat could take a plant tour to see how quality and efficiency is done.

 

[starfire99]

And another thing....this sounds alot like Brunswick and Mercury Marine. Big race program, slow to get into 4stroke technology, poor reliability of transitional technologies ie Optimax, Cleanfire, lay off all the employees, close the factories, couldn't buy KTM so lets use a generic utility engine from Switzerland. Thank God Yamaha is holding back technology as the US manufacturers flush themselves down their corporate toilets!